The present invention relates generally to personalized gifts, greeting cards, or similar products. More specifically, the present invention relates to a personalized message-blanket package enclosing a gift or a tangible item, and a related Internet-based electronic system for generating and delivering such message-blanket package.
It is well known in the art that traditionally greeting cards are manufactured in large volumes with standard messages and card designs. These standard greeting cards are distributed to retail stores nationwide. Thus, a customer must physically go to the retail store to purchase a card and possibly a concomitant gift that properly communicate his or her feelings or intentions relevant to a particular recipient or event.
Once a greeting card or the like is purchased, it is placed in an appropriate envelope and mailed to the recipient. If this card is being included in a package with a gift, then the gift and card are appropriately wrapped and mailed or otherwise delivered to the recipient. This conventional delivery package is typically characterized by vanilla (brown paper) or gift wrap having only the address information imprinted on the exterior of the package. Alternatively, the card and gift may be placed in a suitably-sized cardboard box having only the address information imprinted on the exterior thereof.
Accordingly, package deliveries are cloaked or blanketed with standard paper or cardboard packaging material that is labeled with the sender and recipient""s address and prerequisite postage or FEDEX or UPS codes or the like. Such conventional packaging material is devoid of any connection with the items enclosed within. Obviously, when a recipient receives a packagexe2x80x94independently of its size or configurationxe2x80x94until the package is actually opened, there is no clue regarding its contents. As is well known in the art, unless a package is interesting to the recipient, either because of its form-factor or its source of origin, there is a strong likelihood that it won""t ever be opened. That is, many deliveries are deemed to be xe2x80x9cjunk-mailxe2x80x9d and are immediately trashed.
With the technology and on-line access rapidly permeating society at large, computer-driven systems have been developed for creating personalized greeting cards and the like. These personalized and customized greeting cards and the like may be designed to be delivered in a conventional physical format or may be designed to be delivered electronically via electronic mail (xe2x80x9ce-mailxe2x80x9d) or by enclosing a link to a Web site upon which the electronic card is stored. Thus, the recipient may either enjoy the greeting card by simply opening an e-mail message or by clicking a link in an e-mail message and then be (logically, not physically) delivered to a Web site or the like.
Interactive access to these types of electronic systems may be provided by stand-alone kiosks, networked computer terminals, or Internet linked computer terminals. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,116, Buckley et. al. disclose a stand-alone machine for vending greeting cards or other customized products. Audio presentation to customer of available products is also provided, along with associated design options, method of payment, and mode of delivery. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,567, Small discloses a stand-alone kiosk computer for simultaneously dispensing personalized greeting cards and electronically vendable gifts. A credit card reader and cash receiving equipment are included for accepting customer payment. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,117, Small further discloses another stand-alone system for dispensing personalized greeting cards and gifts that incorporated an alternative embodiment for customers who are physically unable to visit vending retail establishments. In this instance, rather than compelling customers to visit a stand-alone kiosk, the customer may access the underlying computer system via a networked interactive computer terminal.
Another example of a computer processor-based system accessed via a networked terminal is taught by Cannon et. al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,563. Social expression cards are printed using information stored in card description database linked to a plurality of selection categories. The database is then loaded on remote printing units via removable storage media. A user interacts with the printing units via menus to select a desired card image from a plurality of categories. After the desired card image is selected, the printing unit then retrieves the card description from the database and prints the selected card image. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,563, Kara discloses a computer-based system that interacts with a customer to create individualized greeting cards and personalized stamp indicia, calculates the postage due for this greeting card, and prints labels.
As it is well known by those skilled in the art, the Internet is now commonly accessed at home as well as at work. Many commercially available software products have been designed in anticipation of on-line access from personal computers by adults and children enjoying the comforts of being home. Accordingly, a plethora of electronic or computer-driven systems have been developed to enable users to first create and then to purchase personalized and customized products. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,132, Hogan discloses a system in which a user with a personal computer may interact with merchant computers via the Internet to conduct cashless credit card transactions for the purchase of small items. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,718, Spector discloses a computer linked to the Internet that is adapted to produce a composite greeting and gift certificate card that is authorized by a retailer. A user selectively downloads the greeting card and gift certificate software into a local personal computer.
In spite of these and related developments in the art, there appears to be no apparatus or method that contemplates the creation and delivery of a package that externally contains a greeting and/or a personalized message, with or without associated objects or things contained within the package. It should be evident to those skilled in the art that greetings that arrive in card-form or otherwise, and gifts and the like, are normally packaged with plain wrapping paper material or with decorative wrapping paper material. Other than such package known in the art possibly having an occasion-specific or holiday-specific decoration imprinted on the wrapping materials, the recipient must physically open the package in order to receive the intended message. For instance, to the extent that wrapping paper shows a graphic image of a baby rattle or teddy bear, the recipient will surmise that the package contains a baby gift therein. Similarly, if a package arrives with a Christmas-flavored wrapping paper, then the recipient will anticipate a Christmas card and present being contained therein. However, there is unknown in the art a package that is received with a substantive message or the like imprinted or otherwise affixed to the exterior of the package. The present invention provides an apparatus and mechanism whereby a package is generated with a plurality of customized messages blanketing the package; hence, such message is instantaneously and automatically read by the recipient upon his or her taking possession of the package.
Accordingly, these limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention, and improved means and techniques are provided which are useful for generating a message-blanket package that assures the delivery of substantive messages and concomitant items or the like either in a commercial or social or political environment.
The present invention provides an apparatus that is configured with a customized or personalized message or with a plurality of customized or personalized messages disposed upon the exterior of a package that encloses a plurality of tangible items, e.g., gifts, small objects, candy, and the like. Thus, it is contemplated by this aspect of the present invention, that a plurality of messages essentially comprising a blanket are imprinted upon, affixed to, or generally disposed upon a package for delivery to the designated recipient. In the preferred embodiment, this message-package covers the outer package surface of a package that typically has a xe2x80x9cpudgyxe2x80x9d appearance due to the presence of a plurality of objects contained therein.
It will be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of the present invention does not suffer from the infirmity of the prior art wherein packages arriving from unknown origins or with unclear purposes or perhaps presumed to constitute junkmail, are immediately discarded. On the contrary, upon delivery of the message-blanket package of the present invention, the recipient is instantaneously and inherently exposed to the sender""s message. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, that a package that arrives with the message-blanket taught by the present invention tends to increase the likelihood achieving the intended behavioral impact and effect because the recipient routinely will be unable to avoid reading the plurality of messages that are integrated externally of the package being delivered.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is contemplated a computer system that enables a customer to use a personal computer or the like to link to the Internet, to a network, or the like for interactively design a complete message-blanket package. Implicitly invoking and interfacing with a specially-designed computer system preferably located on a host file-server, a user or customer may create a simulated image of a package inherently blanketed with a plurality of customized messages. It will, of course, be readily understood that the messages contemplated by the present invention may consist of a combination of verbiage, graphics, clipart, pictures, music, etc. As will be hereinafter described, the pudgy package taught by the present invention is, in addition to creating a plurality of suitable messages that are disposed on the exterior surface of the package, there is a plurality of tangible items selected for enclosure within the package. Indeed, inclusion of such items and the like is what affords the message-blanket package its pudgy or swell appearance. After the design for the message-blanket is finalized, it is physically generated and then delivered to the recipient or recipients according to the prescribed tenor, i.e., via regular mail, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc.
In another aspect of the present invention, once the customer has completely defined the message-blanket package of the present invention, the associated user and message-blanket package information is stored in a plurality of databases accessible at a plurality of suitable file-servers. Using these stored customer records in conjunction with a concomitant database containing a rich and diverse selection of message attributes, the present invention envisions a construction phase for creating, first, an emulated on-screen message-blanket package, followed by the generation of the actual physical message-blanket package. Thus, as appropriate database records are retrieved and interpreted by corresponding configuration and construction software modules, the codes and parameters specifying the physical configuration of the message-blanket package are used to logically build the specified package and then, pending user-approval of the emulated package, to physically build the message-blanket package from suitable materials including paper, cloth, plastic, or the like. The specified shape of the front and preferably congruent back panels of the package are then cut from the stock material, corresponding edges thereof aligned and configured into the message-blanket package, and then permanently bonded together around the encased selected plurality of items. In a manner well known in the art, the physical message-blanket package may also be laminated with protective film or the like to assure safe delivery and to prolong the aesthetic appearance of the delivered package.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus constituting a personalized and customized message-blanket package that inherently assures the delivery of a plurality of messages simultaneously upon physical delivery of the package.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus constituting a personalized and customized message-blanket package that imparts a plurality of messages to a recipient upon physical delivery of the package and prior to the recipient opening the package.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus constituting a personalized and customized message-blanket package that affords a stuffed or pudgy appearance due to the presence of a plurality of physical objects contained within the package.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system for generating a personalized message-blanket package tailored to meet a user or customer""s specifications.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a network-based computer system enabling a user or customer to remotely generate a customized message-blanket package.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a computer system enabling the generation of customized message-blanket packages consisting of a plurality of elements including graphics, text, clipart, music, etc.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a computer system for customizing and generating a selected message-blanket suitable for diverse commercial, personal, or political requirements.